Weekend wrenching - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

alabbasi · #1 02-03-2008, 12:05 AM

Today was spent separating the front end and the rear end from the metal on of the W109. Fortunately the stars aligned and as soon as the we removed the metal from the sub frames, a scrap metal guy drove by and was happy to take the carcase.

The rest of the time was spent on the 97 E420. It's been giving me grief. So much so that I wanted to trade it (that idea has gone away). In recent weeks, there has been a horrible squeak coming from the front end. It took a set of shocks, sway bar bushings, tie rod ends , a arm and ball joint to figure out what was going on. Then the traction control started kicking and sending the tranny into limp home mode. I had the transmission flushed but it did not do the job. No sooner as the squeak was gone, the car developed a miss. So I gave in and took into the dealership for a diagnostics.

They informed me that i needed new spark plugs and the traction control appeared to be related to a weak battery as the system was recording low voltage faults left and right.

They're price for a set of plugs was $270 and for a battery was $260. Both tasks are easy enough so I thought I would do them myself. I bought a battery for $97 and a set of plugs for $16 and started away. When I pulled out the first coil pack on the right bank, It was dripping with oil and the plug hole was full of oil which is probably why it's been missing and set the check engine light off. I cleaned it up and buttoned back together as there was no sense in putting new plugs in until I could figure out why there was so much oil. One look at the valve cover gasket diagrams gives me an idea as there appears to be seals on the valve cover that go around the spark plug holes. I've ordered a set of valve cover gaskets and am hoping that they get here for next week when I can take care of this.

With all the parts from the 300SEL, I need more space, so tomorrow will be spent building shelves on the back wall so I can store all these parts. I also want to fit the 300SEL door panels onto my 280SEL as they are in better shape and maybe fix the engine mounts on the Jag so that I can get ready for sale.

So much to do, I need to get a list

alabbasi · #2 02-10-2008, 10:20 PM

This weekend I sold the Chevy powered Jaguar and bought a 450SLC 5.0. It's not in great condition but will make a good project car once it's cleaned out.

It's been sitting for some time, and has some mold in the interior (does anyone know how to get this off the leather?)

Saturday was spent replacing the rear muffler in my 280SEL as the other one was leaking and causing me to suffocate. It now sounds so quite!

Today was spent mostly working on the E420 which has been driving me around the bend. It had a horrible squeak from the front end which took tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, shock absorbers , a arm and ball joint to resolve. No soon as it was fixed, the car started missing horribly. I took it to the dealership and they said I needed a new set of plugs and wanted to charge me $265 for them. I bought the plugs and went to remove them. The hole were the plug goes wad full of oil which indicated a bad gasket. Today was spent replacing the gasket. The replacement gasket would not sit properly and would leak horribly. I ended up only using the four o-rings from the new gasket and re-fitting the original (after trying to fit the other one 4 times).

Miss was not resolved so I bought an OBDII reader which informed me that the miss was on the other side (cyl 7). I replaced the plug but noticed that one of the bolts that held the coil down was missing. I suspect that I need to replace this and the coil pack. I will get a better look tomorrow. For now, I'll just drive the 280SEL.

Here are some pictures of the new SLC

JMela · #3 02-11-2008, 01:26 AM

Hey Al. That 5.0 looks cool but could use a little love, huh?

Check w Leatherique for leather cleaning/ conditioning materials:

http://www.leatherique.com/products.htm

alabbasi · #4 02-11-2008, 01:27 AM

Thanks, I already have leatherique items, I just wasnt sure if it was good for cleaning mold.

meltedpanda · #5 02-11-2008, 08:57 PM

just use a good leather soap then come back with a balm , works fine on my old saddles , don't see why it would not work on interior leather

alabbasi · #6 02-18-2008, 11:03 AM

This weekend, I picked up the 450SLC from Sharon. This car belonged to Scott Saenger who was a huge MB enthusiast and ran the SLC 5.0 forum on the Mercedes Benz club. When it rains it pours and it was pouring that day.

I also met Rob who purchased Scott's astral silver 450SLC 5.0 which is set up as a street version of the rally car with the AMG penta wheels and the stiffer suspension. That car is clean.

While I was there, we struck a deal and I ended up walking away with Scott's silver blue 500SLC and the parts car which was on the trailer. These cars are not in great shape. I believe that the green one can be made to run without much effort but the blue one doesn't look like it has had an easy life.

It's clear that both have been laid up for some time prior to Scott's untimely death. I plan on spending this week reading his forum entries in an effort to get some history on the cars.

The interior on both cars is covered in mildew, so i put a bucket of that marine chemical
that sucks up moister in both cars and will give it a week or so to dry out.

The blue car has velor which is in awful condition, i'm going to see if world upholstery can supply the raw material and i can have someone here make the covers.

Them i plan on slowly trying to wake both cars up.

I guess I had better order some valve cover gaskets, cam lube oil and filters so that I can get cracking.

Scott still has two cars, a black 500SLC with 88k that is in pristine condition and a an inca red 450SLC that is currently apart, everything is labeled but it will take an enthusiast to put it back together. This is the car that I'm worried out, I need you're help to find an enthusiast who can bring it back.

In any case, I'll get these cars cleaned up and then shoot some pictures.

For now , here are some of the pictures that Scott took.

If anyone knows about these cars, I would be grateful for any info that you may have.

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alabbasi · #7 02-25-2008, 04:44 PM

This weekend, I tried to start both SLC's and failed! I think the green one has a bad fuel pump as I could not hear it engage. Pouring gas into the throttle body allowed me to run the car for a few seconds and the engine sounded fine.

With the blue one, I cranked it with the coil disconnected so that I could get oil pressure but unfortunately I killed the battery before I got the oil pressure up high enough so the battery is sitting on the charger.

The rest of the weekend was spent disassembling the front end from the 73 300SEL so that I could sell the parts individually and also store them.

I also bought a 73 GMC pickup truck from a friend who needed the cash, this is a good working truck that runs and drives well and will make a home depot truck. As part of the deal, he will buy my 59 ford pickup for the same price (as it is) and finish it off as he really likes that old truck.

This will free up some space in my garage which means a lot to me. I'm getting tired of looking at that pickup and on my schedule, i can never get it finished.